Tesla’s Powerwall 2 is set to be available at a discounted rate with reduced installation costs on Takealot for a limited time. Rubicon, Tesla’s official energy product distributor in South Africa, informed MyBroadband about this special offer.
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The usual retail price of the Powerwall 2, paired with a Tesla Gateway unit, is R174,000 in South Africa, excluding installation fees. However, during the promotion, customers can purchase this package for R156,000, a significant discount of R18,000. Additionally, buyers will receive a R6,000 voucher towards the installation by a certified Tesla partner, which typically costs around R20,000. This reduces the overall cost to R170,000 — a savings of R24,000 compared to the regular price, including installation.
The special Takealot offer will be available from 14 to 20 October 2024.
Despite its higher price point compared to other all-in-one inverter and battery systems available in South Africa, the Powerwall 2 has remained highly popular in the local market. Rubicon saw strong demand for Tesla’s original Powerwall after its 2018 South African launch, with units selling out rapidly. The second iteration arrived in late 2019, further boosting interest.
The Powerwall 2 features a built-in 5kW inverter and a 13.5kWh battery, housed in a sleek cuboid enclosure that can be installed indoors or outdoors. One notable client in South Africa, The Foschini Group, purchased 307 units in 2022.
Tesla’s batteries are praised for their impressive 100% depth-of-discharge (DoD) rating and a 10-year guarantee that ensures at least 80% capacity retention with unlimited cycles. Most competing battery brands offer similar guarantees, but usually only for a limited number of cycles, typically around 6,000.
Greg Blandford, managing director of Rubicon e-Mobility and sustainability, recommended pairing the Powerwall 2 with a solar system to maximize savings. Tesla’s software can optimize the use of solar, battery, and grid power, enabling users to achieve the best cost efficiency, even when dealing with time-of-use (ToU) municipal tariffs.
Blandford noted that some municipalities penalize solar customers with high peak energy rates, but with the Tesla app, customers can input their ToU pricing and track real-world savings.
Tesla has since discontinued the Powerwall 2, replacing it with the Powerwall 3 in the U.S. in early 2024. The Powerwall 3 offers the same 13.5kWh capacity but doubles the continuous inverter output to 11.5kW, making it a better choice for off-grid setups and more energy-demanding applications, such as electric vehicle charging. It also integrates a solar inverter and supports both AC and DC coupling, offering enhanced flexibility over its predecessor.
Although the Powerwall 3 offers improved performance and integration, it has a lower scaling capacity than the Powerwall 2, allowing up to four units for a combined 54kWh, compared to ten units for 135kWh in the Powerwall 2.
Design-wise, the Powerwall 3 maintains the cuboid shape but features a white glowing Tesla logo in place of the original name.
